Intel's hardware chief exits following ongoing die shrink woes

Intel has been having issues with it die shrink technology dating back to 2015 and it poached Dr Venkata (Murthy) Renduchinatala from Qualcomm in 2016 to fix the problems. Unfortunately for both Intel and Dr Renduchinatala, Intel’s woes have continued despite their best efforts. Not only has its 10 nm node transition been repeatedly hit by yield issues, it announced last week that it is now pushing 7 nm production out to 2022 – twelve months behind initial forecasts.

The company has now announced that it will be parting ways with its former chief of hardware engineering on August 3 as Dr Renduchinatala looks to have been made its sacrificial lamb. He headed up five separate teams that covered responsibilities including design, engineering and manufacturing. Rather than replacing him, the five section heads will each now report directly to Intel CEO Bob Swan.

With Intel’s shares taking a battering and AMD’s shares rising following Intel’s latest setbacks, it appears that Swan has decided to step up to tackle the issues directly himself. Whether this matters to shareholders remains to be seen, as ultimately it will be what rolls off Intel’s production lines will be what matters. With Apple switching from Intel’s x86 chips to its own in-house Apple ARM-based silicon and the likelihood that it will be outsourcing fabrication to keep with AMD, Intel is undoubtedly at a critical juncture.